Hello. Those of you who, at least at one time, were runners with no upper body strength: how did you begin a pullup regimen? Are there any specific types of pullup exercises or workouts to try? I\'m asking as a person who can currently only pull off 4 pullups at once.
The best thing to do start with sets of some number you are comfortable with, say 3 sets of 3. And gradually increase the number of reps. Don't just focus on pull ups either, throw in some push ups and other body weight exercises.
If you have access to a gym the pull down will work the same muscles as the pull up and may lead to better initial workouts.
Good stuff here, appropriate for all levels: http://armstrongpullupprogram.com/
Pick a total number reps you want to get to say 50. Perform as many sets as it takes to get there. Do this three times a weak as part of a balanced total body routine.
Alan
4 is actually a pretty good starting point.
If you are a somewhat serious runner, you likely have a huge advantage of beling light.
The other thing about pull ups is that being shorter than average tends to help a lot with number of reps, so if you are on the lanky side, don't feel bad that a friend you have that is built more like a wrestler or gymnast can do more in a set than you.
I'm sure that there are more scientifically proven ways to go about this, but I like to (about 3 times a week, if possible) do 3-4 sets aiming for the most total pull ups while keeping the sets pretty even (like 3 sets of 3 in your case and then if you can do that, aim for 3 sets of 4 and keep upping it from there).
changing up your grip like overhand, underhand, wide grip, etc can make things interesting.
sometimes when I'm getting back into doing pull ups and can't yet manage as many as I'd like, I'll add a few kipping pull ups at the end of my final set where i kip to get to the top, but am sure to go down very slowly to work the negative.
Another way to mix it up a little can be alternating sets of pull ups and push ups (this one saves a little time too, but I tend to take a lot of rest between sets...I'm kind of a lazy exerciser).
Be careful though. The last time I worked my way back up to being able to do over 25 pull ups in a row I would sometimes get chafing on my (rather large) lats while from running since my upper arms were rubbing against them at that point.
Skin E. Fat wrote:
Hello. Those of you who, at least at one time, were runners with no upper body strength: how did you begin a pullup regimen? Are there any specific types of pullup exercises or workouts to try? I'm asking as a person who can currently only pull off 4 pullups at once.
Do 4, then use a box to jump up above the bar, get into pull up position, and just lower yourself. do as many as you can.
LOVE it.
up to 3 sets of 15 (part of my non-running core workout). The bar above allows several different grips.
alternating sets:
50 situps w/wts; bicycle + flutter; crunch + flutter
regular/diamond/wide-arm pushups
different styles of pullup
plus eccentric heel drops + calf work on the stairs
Maybe extra sets if I'm feeling good. Maybe planks.
You can do 4, but all you need to do is 3. However, those would be 3 complete pull ups. Think about the guys in the gym who do less reps with more weight...??? You need to add a couple lb's and shred through 3 of those reps efficiently.
All this malarkey of doing more is ridiculous. You're never going to get stronger building those slow twitch fibers.
Wow, some excellent replies here. Thanks everyone. Keep it coming.
Get one of those door frame pull up bars. I got one at a sport store for $25.
When I get home from a run I crank out a few sets (started at 2 reps, can now do 20). I don't know how much it affects running but I haven't gained any weight and dropped some BF%, and generally appear more ripped instead of skinnyfat. Also make sure you're doing pushups at the same time because it will balance out chest with shoulders.
Jerk off alot
I have done this program 3 times. After several weeks when my first set is 10-12 reps I started getting overuse injuries in several places like the chest and biceps.
60+ y/o Clarence Bass did 20 chin-ups using this method -
frequent sets of sub-burnout reps to wire his CNS to become more efficient. The main point is never to overstress the CNS by going to burnout.